Paris St Germain set to beat Chelsea to signature of Neymar with £85m bid

Paris St Germain are ready to break the world transfer record with an £85 million bid for Chelsea’s long-time target Neymar, according to reports in France.

Santos striker Neymar is the most highly-rated player in Brazilian football

The Brazilian forward is widely regarded as the biggest talent in world football, having established himself as the figurehead for both club and country after bursting on the scene as a 17-year-old at Santos in 2009.Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Real Madrid and AC Milan have all since been involved in a transfer scramble for the 20-year-old, while Chelsea and Barcelona have both tried to negotiate a transfer, only to be told he would not consider moving clubs until after the World Cup in Brazil in 2014.However, that situation looks to have changed in the last fortnight, after close friend and key midfielder Ganso was sold by Santos last week, prompting Neymar to become frustrated with life at the club.It is understood that he is now willing to consider other offers, with big spending French side PSG ready to offer £85 million in what would be their most audacious coup yet.Any possible deal would be complex to complete, especially given the intricate sponsorship deals that Neymar has signed based around his stay at Santos, but according to former PSG star Rai, the move is very much possible.’It will be difficult to convince Neymar to move to Paris, because there are a lot of clubs after his signature,’ Rai told the French media.’But PSG have already signed Thiago Silva, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lucas Moura. I believe they are all players who were difficult for PSG to convince as well.’PSG will face stiff competition for his signature, so you can’t make any guarantees. I hope that they will manage to sign him, though. It will be very difficult, but it’s definitely possible.’The mammoth deal would easily be the biggest ever, following on from Cristiano Ronaldo’s £80 million switch to Real Madrid in 2009.A fee of £85 million has already been talked up, with Neymar, who is currently the seventh-best paid player in the world, likely to pick up wages close to £300,000-a-week.